« Yes! I understand. » Heize Lin s'inclina avec des excuses auprès de Qingshui Cangjie.
observait les deux jouer la comédie comme un spectateur invisible. La mise en scène était assez efficace, laissant le principal Suzuki totalement déconcerté.
La suite de la conversation fut bien plus simple, le principal Suzuki se mettant à raconter ce qu'il savait des événements.
« That child... no, no, it's Asakura Yodou. He was once a student at Chao Wei Primary School, back when he was in second grade. »
« It's not human, truly not human. Terrifying. Anyone it sets its sights on would be haunted by bad luck and ultimately meet a tragic fate. »
Lorsque le nom d'Asakura Yodou fut mentionné, les émotions du principal Suzuki devinrent visiblement tendues, manifestement plus craintives, comme si ce nom avait réveillé ses souvenirs les plus profonds et les plus horribles. « It harmed teachers, attacked classmates. Although it was stopped at the time, who could have expected that the tragedy was far from over? Those teachers and classmates who were attacked or harmed would die in horrific ways after returning home. »
« They would suddenly scream in the night, as if trapped in nightmares, unable to wake up, and then... and then die within minutes. »
« And there would be inexplicable scars on their bodies, right? » demanda Heize Lin.
À cette révélation inattendue, le principal Suzuki fut surpris, releva la tête et le fixa avec un air perplexe. « Scars? There were no scars. They just died in their sleep, as I've mentioned before. »
« Principal Suzuki, this is why I've come seeking you. Things have changed; this entity is still killing, but now there are terrifying scars on the bodies of the victims. » Qingshui Cangjie appuya les paroles de Heize Lin et fit signe à de sortir la planche en bois de son sac à dos.
Le sac à dos de contenait une planche en bois, marquée d'égratignures et de blessures par perforation. En voyant cette scène, Qingshui Cangjie recula involontairement en s'écriant : « It's him! It's him! Those scars on the teachers and students he harmed were left by his compass! »
« Compass... » fronça les sourcils, se rappelant immédiatement l'évaluation du chef de la police Takeda Yuji sur l'instrument funeste, qui correspondait parfaitement à une boussole.
À partir de ce moment, ils identifièrent enfin le fantôme comme étant bien un enfant, seul un enfant pouvant s'insérer dans un espace exigu, ce qui correspondait à leurs hypothèses sur la taille.
Cette entité est connue sous le nom d'Asakura Yodou.
« At first, we were unsure what was happening, assuming it was some kind of strange illness, until its behavior became increasingly bizarre, no longer satisfied with harming teachers and classmates at school. One night, it secretly lured a female classmate out of her home, attacked her with a compass, and tried to push her into the sea to drown her. Fortunately, her parents noticed something amiss and found her just in time, saving her, but... »
« But it was no use; the girl still died. Anyone targeted by it can't escape their dire fate. »
« As its misdeeds came to light, it had to leave the school. Locked at home by its parents, forbidden to go out, yet even they became its targets. Shortly thereafter, its mother and grandmother died in nightmares as well. »
« Around this time, the Eightfold Kashi Mountain Hotel began construction, but encountered many difficulties with the foundation. Seeing the construction deadline approach, its owner conceived a sinister plan to secretly pay a high price for a child to serve as a 'human pillar.' »
« Finally, the villagers who had lost relatives found an opportunity for revenge. Waiting for Asakura Yodou's father to be away, they snuck into his house at night, kidnapped Asakura Yodou, stuffed him into a wooden box, nailed it shut, and transported him overnight to the Eightfold Kashi Mountain Hotel construction site, where they buried him in the foundation. »
« Strangely enough, construction progressed smoothly afterward. »
« But they never imagined that the nightmare was far from over. Shortly after the burial, strange occurrences resurfaced in the village, and those villagers who had participated in kidnapping Asakura Yodou began dying tragically one after another... all in the same way, dying in their sleep. People realized—it had returned, Asakura Yodou had returned! »
« In sheer terror, many villagers chose to flee the village, leaving behind only the elderly, weak, and sick who couldn't leave. »
Le principal Suzuki soupira avec chagrin : « The children are gone, the school is abandoned. I've taught here my whole life and don't want to leave, nor can I. My home is here. »
« After several deaths, however, things calmed down again. Some who fled still died from nightmares, but how many died and who precisely, I don't know. Most lost contact after leaving the village, probably... probably wanting to forget everything that happened here, given how terrifying it was. » Le principal Suzuki comprenait leurs sentiments.
« What about Asakura Yodou's father? Did he leave too? » posa la question cruciale.
« No, he didn't leave; he died before he could. » Le principal Suzuki prit une grande inspiration. « He was the first to be killed in the village—its revenge. »
« Revenge? »
« Yes, because the one who proposed burying Asakura Yodou alive was his own father. That night... he never left the house. » L'expression du principal Suzuki était complexe.
« His father hated it too, and had told others that the real Asakura Yodou was dead, killed by it. What was controlling his son's body now was not human; it was an evil ghost! This evil ghost killed all his kin! »
« Back then, they invited a witch to assess the situation, but the next day, she died suddenly at home, her death similar to those villagers. »
« Mr. Katou, if you have a way to subdue that evil ghost, it will be of immense merit. » Le principal Suzuki le regarda avec sincérité et parla.
« Principal Suzuki, was Asakura Yodou's family native to this area? » demanda Qingshui Cangjie.
« Yes, his father was a fisherman, mother a housewife. They lived here for a long time. » Le principal Suzuki confirma.
« When did Asakura Yodou start behaving this way? » Qingshui Cangjie continua son enquête.
« Probably... during the summer break when he was promoted to second grade. Before then, Asakura Yodou was a good child; although mute, he was kind to teachers and classmates, loved by all. » Le principal Suzuki ajusta ses lunettes et se remémora.
« He couldn't speak—was he mute? »
« Yes. »
« Did anything occur during that summer break? » Qingshui Cangjie sentit qu'il approchait de la vérité, cherchant le catalyseur du changement.
« I don't know, nothing seemed special during that summer; nothing happened in the village either. Maybe... maybe his family knew, but... » Le principal Suzuki exprima son regret puisque sa famille n'était plus là.
La dernière piste s'arrêta là.
jeta un œil à l'heure sur le mur ; il se faisait tard et ils devaient rentrer, incertains d'éventuels imprévus sur la route — ils devaient prévoir une marge suffisante.
Avant de partir, Qingshui Cangjie et le principal Suzuki échangèrent leurs numéros de téléphone, s'accordant pour s'appeler s'ils se rappelaient quelque chose.
Sous les questions de , le principal Suzuki avoua n'avoir aucun contact avec d'autres membres du gang, ce qui correspondait à la discrétion des gangs, évitant de laisser des traces, car de telles affaires étaient en effet obscures.
Le trio revint à l'entrée du village et repartit en voiture. Finalement, après avoir perdu trois vies, ils confirmèrent l'identité du fantôme — un coût bien lourd.
Comme ils le soupçonnaient, un corps était bien enterré sous l'hôtel, le sacrifice d'un enfant.
L'arrangement voisin de Meizhen Quan Gongsi visait également à enfermer ce fantôme.
« Asakura Yodou... » Qingshui Cangjie répéta doucement le nom.
« Mr. Qingshui, have you discovered something? » s'enquit Heize Lin.
« Don't you find this child's condition odd? All those it harmed died in a bizarre manner—dying in dreams. » Assis à l'arrière, Qingshui Cangjie scruta sur le siège avant via le rétroviseur, comme s'il attendait quelque chose de ce jeune étranger.
« Like an Angel Envoy's ability. » remarqua soudain . « This child is an Angel Envoy, and possesses an extraordinarily rare spell-type magical artifact, which killed the villagers by curse. »